California Classroom Science

2010 Conference Offered a Bounty of Education and Fun

Posted: Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

“This year’s workshops were ALL excellent!”

“Good things to use in class on Monday.”

“CSTA is an AWESOME conference—this resource for teachers must continue!”

These are just a few of the comments received from the evaluation forms filled out by attendees to this year’s CSTA conference. Over 1,300 science educators convened in Sacramento this past October 22-24. The rain that dropped from the skies over the weekend did little to dampen the positive vibes, the golden learning opportunities, and the enthusiasm that was building throughout the entire weekend.

The conference opened on Friday morning with a rush at the registration desk and 18 concurrent workshops beginning at 8:00 am. That same morning at the Opening Session, Kathy DiRanna, statewide director for the K-12 Alliance, gave an inspiring talk on leadership in the 21st century.

Throughout the three-day event filled with workshops, Short Courses, exhibits, and Field Courses, excitement was building for the Closing Session event that featured Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, hosts of the Discovery Channel’s MythBusters. And attendees were not disappointed. The event offered an exciting and—quite literally—explosive finale to an overall great event.

Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage

CSTA thanks the attendees, the exhibitors, and the generous sponsors of the 2010 California Science Education Conference for their participation. Sincere thanks also goes to the 2010 Conference Committee members and the 2010-2011 CSTA Board of Directors who donated countless hours in advance of and during the conference. And a huge thank you to the presenters, most of whom donated their time, for making the conference possible.

“These teachers are dedicated and accomplished individuals whose innovative teaching styles prepare our students for 21st century careers and college and develop them into the designers and inventors of the future,” Torlakson said. “They rank among the finest in their profession and also serve as wonderful mentors and role models.”

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By the time this message is posted online, most schools across California will have been in session for at least a month (if not longer, and hat tip to that bunch!). Long enough to get a good sense of who the kids in your classroom are and to get into that groove and momentum of the daily flow of teaching. It’s also very likely that for many of you who weren’t a part of a large grant initiative or in a district that set wheels in motion sooner, this is the first year you will really try to shift instruction to align to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). I’m not going to lie to you, it’s a challenging year – change is hard. Change is even harder when there’s not a playbook to go by. But as someone who has had the very great privilege of walking alongside teachers going through that change for the past two years and being able to glimpse at what this looks like for different demographics across that state, there are three things I hope you will hold on to. These are things I have come to learn will overshadow the challenge: a growth mindset will get you far, one is a very powerful number, and it’s about the kids. Learn More…

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“Science and Social Studies can be taught for the last half hour of the day on Fridays”

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Anyone concerned with the teaching of science in elementary school is keenly aware of the problem of time. Kids need to learn to read, and learning to read takes time, nobody disputes that. So Common Core ELA can seem like the enemy of science. This was a big concern to me as I started looking at the curriculum that my district had adopted for Common Core ELA. I’ve been through those years where teachers are learning a new curriculum, and know first-hand how a new curriculum can become the focus of attention- sucking all the air out of the room. Learn More…

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Think back on your own experiences with learning science in school. Were you required to memorize disjointed facts without understanding the concepts?

Science Education Background

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This month I was fortunate enough to hear about some new topics to share with our entire region. Some of you may access the online or newsletter options, others may attend events in person that are nearer to you. Long time CSTA member and environmental science educator Mike Roa is well known to North Bay Area teachers for his volunteer work sharing events and resources. In this month’s Region 1 updates I am happy to make a few of the options Mike offers available to our region. Learn More…